Spin Coater

q3k commented

2025-05-24 09:58:22 +00:00

Owner

A machine that deposits a thin film of liquid onto a surface (Spin Coating — Wikipedia). For us, a primary usecases is depositing photoresists on wafers.

It should not be too hard to DIY a decent spin coater. There are plenty of existing projects to draw inspiration from:

Project page for our spin coater in our wiki: https://wiki.fa-fo.de/projects:spincoater:start

Wishlist

Controlled temperature
Vacuum sample holder
Fully enclosed during operation
Recipe system (predefined rpm & duration settings for achieving reproducible results)
TODO: What layer thickness do we want to achieve?
TODO: What max RPM should the machine support?
TODO: What size of sample should fit?
- Full wafers
- Microscope slides

A machine that deposits a thin film of liquid onto a surface ([Spin Coating — Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spin_coating)). For us, a primary usecases is depositing photoresists on wafers. <a title="Alison Chaiken, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spinner.jpg"><img width="256" alt="Spinner" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ad/Spinner.jpg/256px-Spinner.jpg?20141129161955"></a> It should not be too hard to DIY a decent spin coater. There are plenty of existing projects to draw inspiration from: - [Jeroen Delcour](https://hackaday.com/2023/07/26/hackaday-prize-2023-homebrew-spin-coater-makes-micrometer-thin-layers/) - [Birdbrain](https://www.printables.com/model/658943-diy-spin-coater) Project page for our spin coater in our wiki: https://wiki.fa-fo.de/projects:spincoater:start ## Wishlist - Controlled temperature - Vacuum sample holder - Fully enclosed during operation - Recipe system (predefined rpm & duration settings for achieving reproducible results) - TODO: What layer thickness do we want to achieve? - TODO: What max RPM should the machine support? - TODO: What size of sample should fit? * Full wafers * Microscope slides

q3k added the

Type

Process

label 2025-05-24 09:58:22 +00:00

forgejo-actions commented

2025-05-24 09:58:29 +00:00

Partial Techtree

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    1["<a href='https://git.fa-fo.de/fafo/techtree/issues/50' target='_blank'>#50</a> | MISSING<br/><i>Process</i><br/><b>E-beam Lithography</b>"]
    2:::dependant
    2["<a href='https://git.fa-fo.de/fafo/techtree/issues/51' target='_blank'>#51</a> | MISSING<br/><i>Process</i><br/><b>Maskless Photolithography</b>"]
    3:::dependant
    3["<a href='https://git.fa-fo.de/fafo/techtree/issues/60' target='_blank'>#60</a> | MISSING<br/><i>Process</i><br/><b>Thermal diffusion doping</b>"]
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    4["<a href='https://git.fa-fo.de/fafo/techtree/issues/70' target='_blank'>#70</a> | MISSING<br/><i>Research</i><br/><b>STM Lithography</b>"]
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    5["<a href='https://git.fa-fo.de/fafo/techtree/issues/99' target='_blank'>#99</a> | ASSIGNED<br/><i>Process</i><br/><b>Basic LCD Device</b>"]
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Digest: d8799f3d562a5e95052876fcddd45c73fe3afea3e1633298111dd8b39538b390; Last Updated: 2026-01-07 08:18:10

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q3k added a new dependency 2025-05-24 10:16:08 +00:00

#50 E-beam Lithography

q3k added a new dependency 2025-05-24 10:17:27 +00:00

#51 Maskless Photolithography

rahix changed title from ~~Spin coating~~ to Spin Coater

2025-05-29 09:14:59 +00:00

rahix added

and removed

labels 2025-05-29 09:15:04 +00:00

rahix added a new dependency 2025-06-01 21:31:26 +00:00

#70 STM Lithography

rob was assigned by rahix

2025-06-28 10:47:06 +00:00

rahix added a new dependency 2025-08-10 13:10:43 +00:00

#60 Thermal diffusion doping

rahix commented

2025-08-21 12:31:33 +00:00

Owner

One more design reference: https://github.com/klotzsch-lab/Maasi (Apparently this is what HackerFab is using)

jana added a new dependency 2025-10-03 17:02:44 +00:00

#99 Basic LCD Device

q3k commented

2026-01-16 19:39:32 +00:00

Author

Owner

While Rob is working on the electronics, I'm taking a stab at the hardware (3d printing, fasteners, etc). I'm not happy with the Maasi as is. I've redrawn most of it in FreeCAD and am incrementally making it better..

Here's my planned list of improvements:

Lid latching
Glass pane that fits lid, or fully printed lid (acrylic lid doesn't work for us)
Stretch goal: make lid toolless-detachable
M4 mounting pattern around top of coater for optional attachments (eg. dropper/dripper)
Vase should have a chamfer on its lip to allow printing without supports
Motor mounting hole should be printable without supports
Lid/case hinge mounts should have angles adjusted so they print cleanly without supports
Self-tapping holes should be replaced with self-tapping ribbed holes or ruthex m3s inserts
Sample holders should have mounting holes redesigned to print without supports
Shaft adapter should be redesigned to fit the shaft of our motor and be parametrized for different shaft lengths
There should be a secondary liquid spillage containment 'chute' within the case to try to save the motor and internals of the case if liquid creeps up the center of the vase
An alternate bottom plate should be designed that can use hollow-shaft motors for a vacuum sample holder
The case should have a lip for the bottom plate to rest against, allowing easy assembly with the device upside-down
The power socket should be replaced with a larger, generic hole with M3 mounting holes, allowing for swapping between DC jack and eg. USB-C, or more I/O in the back.
There should be an M3 hole grid in the bottom plate to allow better mounting of electronics.
There should be optically 'opaque' vents in the case.
Shaft adapter should be redesigned to fully engage with the center lip of the vase to further limit liquid ingress.

While Rob is working on the electronics, I'm taking a stab at the hardware (3d printing, fasteners, etc). I'm not happy with the Maasi as is. I've redrawn most of it in FreeCAD and am incrementally making it better.. Here's my planned list of improvements: - [x] Lid latching - [x] Glass pane that fits lid, or fully printed lid (acrylic lid doesn't work for us) - [ ] Stretch goal: make lid toolless-detachable - [X] M4 mounting pattern around top of coater for optional attachments (eg. dropper/dripper) - [X] Vase should have a chamfer on its lip to allow printing without supports - [X] Motor mounting hole should be printable without supports - [x] Lid/case hinge mounts should have angles adjusted so they print cleanly without supports - [x] Self-tapping holes should be replaced with self-tapping ribbed holes or ruthex m3s inserts - [ ] Sample holders should have mounting holes redesigned to print without supports - [x] Shaft adapter should be redesigned to fit the shaft of our motor and be parametrized for different shaft lengths - [ ] There should be a secondary liquid spillage containment 'chute' within the case to try to save the motor and internals of the case if liquid creeps up the center of the vase - [x] An alternate bottom plate should be designed that can use hollow-shaft motors for a vacuum sample holder - [x] The case should have a lip for the bottom plate to rest against, allowing easy assembly with the device upside-down - [x] The power socket should be replaced with a larger, generic hole with M3 mounting holes, allowing for swapping between DC jack and eg. USB-C, or more I/O in the back. - [x] There should be an M3 hole grid in the bottom plate to allow better mounting of electronics. - [x] There should be optically 'opaque' vents in the case. - [x] Shaft adapter should be redesigned to fully engage with the center lip of the vase to further limit liquid ingress.

❤️ 1

rob commented

2026-01-16 20:21:21 +00:00

Owner

there is some documentation by McMaster: https://github.com/Labsmore/Maasi and the google doc by them

Rows
Columns

Spin Coater #49

Wishlist

Partial Techtree